Ten New Year’s resolutions for your digital life
New year, new you. Given that such a large portion of our lives are now led online, it only makes sense to make some New Year’s resolutions for your digital self. Here are 10 suggestions from the Digital Tattoo team for a fun and productive 2015: 1. Google yourself. Review what shows up in […]
Illegal downloading prosecutions over? Think again
If you thought there was nothing to worrying about, you’re wrong. In a Minnesota courtroom this past month, single mother Jammie Thomas-Rasset, was ordered to pay 62,500 USD per song for 24 songs she illegally downloaded from KaZaA, a popular file sharing site. AFP reported that the total fine given was an astronomical 1.5 million dollars. […]
“Could you patent the sun?”
Despite all the ink dedicated to open access as a new publishing model it is in fact an old way. Take for example, Dr. Jonas Salk. Unknown thousands, maybe even you, owe their ability to walk to Dr. Salk. How so? He invented the vaccine for Polio in 1952. The research, creation, and funding of […]
Copyright Cowboy
If you have an interest in copyright law and have not already watched Rip!: A remix manifesto, you need to check it out. The director’s politics are a bit heavy handed but the point is eye opening: copyright law has not always been what copyright law is today. Using mash-up music artist Girl Talk as […]
Editing the controversial – Wikipedia taking new steps
Wikipedia announced recently that it will make it possible for a broader swath of users to edit controversial subjects on the site whose pages are locked due to abuse and political manipulation. Generally, any reader can edit a page, but there are certain people and topics that the Wiki masterminds do not allow ‘editing’ of […]
Canada attempts new copyright law
The Canadian government is about to enter round three of amending its outdated copyright legislation after two prior attempts, Bill C-60 and Bill C-61, died on the parliamentary floor. [linebreak] It is difficult to wade through the jingo of the proposed on-line copyright changes, but in a nutshell the bill legalizes existing practices like personal […]
Copyright, Google and antiquity
A recent story in the European press has revealed that some of the oldest works in the human quiver of knowledge will be added to the e-shelf. Italy’s national library has slated up to one million titles for the scanner box, many of them the original works of philosophy and science pioneers. [linebreak] Standard copyright […]
New publishing precedent
I don’t think it is the end of Youtube, but it is certainly a bit of a scare. An Italian court made the precedent setting decision to hold three Google executives responsible for invasion of privacy because of video hosted on the popular site. Up until now, web hosts have been exempt from privacy and […]
